Pumas show their claws
VIVA Argentina. Arguably the greatest moment in their rugby history has come right when we had the least right to expect it.
The celebrations should be breaking out, not just in this football-mad South American nation, but all around the rugby world after their epic 25-15 TriNations victory over New Zealand in west Sydney last night. They have beaten the mighty All Blacks for the first time ever, and it came like a bolt out of the blue in this 2020 year that has served up a fair few of them.
And for once the All Blacks are not the story here. Not by a long shot. Mario Ledesma’s Pumas completed one of the great upsets in the game’s history at Bankwest Stadium on the back of one of the great defensive displays.
They smashed the All Blacks over time and time again and knocked them off kilter to such an extent that this first-string lineup of Ian Foster’s simply had no answers. The All Blacks were ponderous, predictable and poor in their execution. They were simply awful.
But the Pumas, who hadn’t played a test match in 13 months, were simply wonderful. They had all the excuses in the world to fold to yet another defeat at All Blacks’ hands, but were simply not interested. After awonderful first 40 minutes, where they took the game by the scruff of the neck, the South Americans did the hard part splendidly. They buckled down and completed the job, never mind their tiring legs, never mind their lack of recent test rugby, never mind the desperation of their opponents.
Right at a time when Argentina rugby has been thrust into aworld of unknowns with the Covid-inspired dissolution of Super Rugby aswe know it, here we have their greatest moment as a test nation.
They cannot be forgotten about. They cannot be ignored.
This performance alone showed that all the hard yards done during the past decade to establish them as the rugby nation we all knew they could be has been worth it. But it must continue.
Argentina’s first 40 minutes, all things considered, were nothing short of sensational as they took a 16-3 lead into the sheds, and clearly had an out-ofsorts All Blacks outfit rattled.
The New Zealanders were awful through the first half at Bankwest Stadium in Parramatta, their discipline shocking, their possession and retention all-but non-existent and their ability to work their way out of tight spots worryingly absent.
But how about those Pumas? They hadn’t played a test match since October 9 last year, when they bowed out of the World Cup with a 19-5 victory over the United States. That’s 13 months since they have kicked a ball in anger.
Since then they’ve had to battle aworld of setbacks whipped up by the pandemic, including the virus making its way through their squad while they were at their first training camp. It’s been a long, tough, isolated haul to this point, though you wouldn’t have known it the way they played like awell-oiled machine.
Sometimes character and will and aggression and commitment can overcome what seem like insurmountable circumstances. The All Blacks have just played four straight Bledisloe tests against the Wallabies; the Pumas had a couple of breezy hitouts in suburban grounds against a scratch AussieA lineup.
But you wouldn’t have known it by their first 40 in west Sydney as they brought all the energy, intensity and productivity to an outstanding half of rugby. It was the
Argentineans who controlled the rhythm and flow of the opening half, it was the South
Americans, behind standout displays by their halves Tomas Cubelli and Nicolas Sanchez, who scored the only try of the spell and took themselves within touching distance of that historic first victory over the All Blacks.
They rattled this top lineup of Ian Foster’s, who looked a shadow of the outfit that breezed to back-to-back dominant wins over the Wallabies in Auckland and Sydney, before the coach elected to change things up last week in Brisbane – and paid the price for that.
Then they were good enough to seal the deal. Bravo.
A quick word on these All Blacks. This was a serious step back for Ian Foster and his men, who have now had more poor showings then positive displays this year. Some big questions now have to be asked. Some major self-examination must take place.
For starters, is Jordie Barrett really a right wing of test calibre? He is an excellent player, but if he’s not good enough to tip his brother, Beauden, out of the fullback jersey, then maybe the selectors just need to make the hard call and leave him out.
But it goes well beyond that. The pack was toothless. The backs had no answer to that brilliant defence. Where was Plan B?
They are questions, though, for another day. Right now let’s raise a glass to Argentinean rugby. The tough got going when the going was toughest.